And yet reading more can be hard. “We hate reading. We find it difficult. We can’t afford it. We don’t have the time. We don’t have the energy. We’re overwhelmed by choice. We can’t find what excites us. We don’t retain what we read…” The list of excuses goes on.

But not this year.

This is the year you read more. This is the year you take responsibility for your future. The year you don’t settle for being too ignorant, too arrogant or too busy to master your less well-read self. This is the year you get smarter, be it with 5 books, with 50 or 100.

Let’s take the “I” from illiteracy and get hustling…

1. GIVE READING A (SECOND) CHANCE.

Our early experiences with books can haunt us the rest of our lives. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

12. READ WITH OTHERS.

One of the best ways to foster new habits is with the support of others.

Read a book with family members and friends. Discuss it with them. See the content with fresh eyes. Learn something new about them.

If your family and friends are busy, get Googling and join a local book club. You’ll read more, learn more and meet heaps of new, interesting and open-minded people.

Reading is like having a fascinating and personal conversation with an author. Little makes it more rewarding than sharing that conversation with others.

13. READ ALL THE TIME.

Moments become minutes become mountains of books. That’s why the best habit you can develop is to read all the time.

Waiting for the bus? Read.

Waiting for the movie to start? Read.

In line for coffee? Read.

Trying to keep your kids busy? Read to them.

The secret to reading at all times? Keep at least one book with you, wherever you are and remember, no moment is too short.

If you spend 6 minutes waiting for buses, 220 days of the year that’s 1320 minutes of reading – or ~3.5 books!

You can definitely make this work with physical books but, once again, ebooks have a small advantage in this space. With my Kindle, I can fit hundreds of books in my pocket wherever I am. That means I always have something that feels right for the moment at hand.

14. BE PREPARED.

Avoid gaps in your reading by always having a book or two to hand.

For lovers of physical books, be a book squirrel. Stockpiles your to-reads in advance:

By your bed;

In the bathroom;

In the kitchen;

In the car;

At work;

At your partner’s house;

At your parent’s house; or

In your hand, gym and travel bags.

Wherever you spend time, make sure there are books.

For eBooks and audiobooks:

Charge your devices before you leave home;

Bring external batteries, adapters, plugs and cables with you; and

Download books ahead of your reading plan.

Don’t count on a charge point, reception or WiFi when you’re out and about.

Remember: moments become minutes become mountains.

Look after the moments and the mountains will look after themselves.

15. KEEP A LIST.

One of the most daunting questions in reading is: what should I read next?

For now, note the titles and authors of any books on your mind that excite you.

(If the book is a recommendation, I also like to add the name of the recommender. That way I can say thank you when I’ve read their suggestion. This tip alone will forge life-altering discussions and friendships.)

Do feel free to organise your list by excitement, genre, author, date of publication or whatever you find useful.

Don’t make organising your list a chore. When you come across a new book just add it to the top or the bottom. You can worry about placing it later.

16. FILL YOUR LIST.

When it comes to stocking your list one of two things might happen:

You’ll draw a total blank (that won’t be a problem for long); or

You’ll experience strong excitement or anxiety at the huge range of choices you face.

Both are fine. To solve the first, let others inspire you. Some good places to start include:

Make notes – Ask: What is the main message in this chapter? How does it link to my knowledge? Or answer my questions?

Challenge – Ask: What would I say to the author if they were here? Are they right? What have they missed?

Finally, at the end of each page, each chapter and the entire book take some time to:

Recall information – Cover your notes. Now try to recall the main message and points as best you can from memory. This should feel difficult. Don’t give up quickly or use your notes. Active recall is a powerful way to boost understanding and memory.

Set next actions – Ask: What questions do I still have? What further information do I need? What points would I still struggle to explain? How can I implement what I’ve learned in my life?

Now act – Make a plan to tackle your next actions. Get started right away. A person who does not act has no advantage over a person who does not know.

These steps need effort and willpower. They won’t feel easy and you will be tempted to skip them.

Don’t. You will get far more from your reading as a result.

21. REST, THEN REVIEW.

It’s oft forgotten that a book’s most valuable lessons come after its last page, not before it.

To make the most of the time and energy you invest in a book, first set it aside. Let the dust settle in your head. Give its ideas time to percolate in your mind. A few days to a week should be perfect.

Summarise your notes – Review your notes and reflections. Try to summarise their essence in a sentence, a paragraph and a page.

Discuss it with someone who’s read it – What did you both get from the book? How are your takeaways different? What actions or criticisms do you share?

Teach it to someone who hasn’t – Try to explain the essence of the book to a friend. What ideas do you most struggle to explain clearly? You may wish to revisit them.

Codify facts for flashcards – The human mind is a sieve. Make a list of the frameworks, lists and facts you don’t want to forget. Now make a plan to remember them.

Remember, wisdom isn’t measured by the number of books you’ve read. It’s measured by your ability to get knowledge into your head and apply it.

You will often get far more from really digesting, understanding and actioning a single book than you will from skimming through 10.

22. REREAD YOUR OLD BOOKS.

Time with old books is like time with old friends.

The longer you’re together, the more you’ll discover, and the more they’ll teach you about yourself. Stranger yet is how the bits you most admire and appreciate in them will change in mysterious ways as you age.

Sometimes you may grow apart. Other times you’ll rediscover your friendship much later. And, when that happens, it will feel like you caught up just yesterday.

Even when you think you know everything about them, they’ll surprise you. And eventually, they’ll become part of the most important memories and decisions in your life.

So keep your old friends, and reread your old books.

Sure, nothing thrills like a fling with the new and exciting.

But as you grow older, it’s the books and people that have stood by you the longest that you’ll feel most glad to come home to.

23. TAKE BREAKS.

Don’t force yourself to read because you think you should. If that’s how you feel something’s probably not right.

Sometimes a change is as good as a break. If you’ve been reading non-fiction, try fiction. If you’re reading a difficult book, try something easier.

Other times you may just be running on empty. Go for a walk, listen to music, have a nap, grab a snack, meditate, chat with a friend. Take some time out to restore yourself.

If reading still feels like a chore, something deeper’s at play. Perhaps you need to recalibrate your goals and expectations. Maybe something not reading related is stressing you.

In any case, don’t be afraid to take a long break from reading entirely. Try a few days, or a week, or a month. Watch some films. Go to the theatre. Catch up with friends. Experiment by reading a few great articles from one of your favourite blogs.

You won’t always be able to pinpoint and rationalise everything. Sometimes all life needs is space. Let it settle, unravel and reset.

24. CHALLENGE YOURSELF.

If you’re inspired and excited to get reading – it’s time to set yourself a three-step challenge:

Aim to read one book per month – At ~6h per book that’s ~12 minutes reading per day

Aim for one book per fortnight – ~30 minutes reading per day.

Aim for one book per week – ~60 minutes reading per day.

If you dedicate 3 months to stage one, 3 more to stage two and 6 months to stage three you’ll read 35 books this year. That’s awesome!

To help you, why not:

Commit to the challenge with a friend;

Stack the books you’ll read where you can see them;

Make a victory tower of the books that you’ve conquered;

Keep this year’s reading list somewhere you’ll see it every day; or

Make a public commitment on social media, Goodreads and to your friends and family.

Set yourself a challenge you’ll be proud of yourself for completing.

Now get to work putting foundations under it.

25. BUT, DON’T LET YOUR GOALS STRESS YOU OUT.

Challenges are a superb way to motivate and inspire us.

But they can also turn into hellish reminders of our failure to live up to our own expectations.

27. TAKE ACTION.

But reading expands our minds and enlarges our world. A good book makes us happier, it makes us smarter and it makes us wise. It’s a part of our lives that’s too vital to skip

So if you want to read more, read. Don’t wait for the perfect moment or method. Pick up the nearest book. Start with that. Exchange it for a better one. Improve your reading tools as you go along. Identify the excuses that are holding you back. Pick the one thing in this list that caught your eye and take action. Not tomorrow, not later, do it now.

Make this the year you get started on the reading you know you should do.

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Arthur is a learning-freak, slow-thinker, and writer who loves helping curious, busy people digest chewy topics fast. One of his passions is language learning. Send yourself his Free Ultimate Language Learning Guide today to save you or a friend thousands of dollars and hours on your journey to fluency.